NASCIO conducts a survey of the state CIOs to identify and prioritize the top policy and technology issues facing state government. The CIOs top ten priorities are identified and used as input to NASCIO’s programs, planning for conference sessions, and publications.
This report is a follow up to a 2019 survey by NASCIO, The Center for Digital Government and IBM, exploring how state CIOs and other state technologies are thinking about artificial intelligence. This follow up study includes new interviews with state CIOs in the wake of COVID-19 and the increased use of chatbots and other AI to respond to the pandemic. The report also details new pilot projects and uses cases for AI outside of COVID-19.
State CIOs are under increasing pressure to deliver a seamless, digital experience to citizens while providing key IT infrastructure support for state agencies. They will likely be asked to do more with less as state governments face ongoing budget pressure, especially in light of revenue shortfalls related to the COVID-19 pandemic. In this survey from NASCIO and EY, we explore how states are (or are not) governing their use of emerging technology, the challenges they face, and what technologies will be most likely used in their states.
The sixth biennial Deloitte-NASCIO Cybersecurity Study reflects insights from all 50 states and 1 territory on the CISO’s role and budget, governance, reporting, workforce and operations. The CISOs filled out this year’s survey in May/June 2020—an unprecedented time as the world adjusted to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. State governments responded by moving their enterprise operations, services and employees to a virtual environment, and the study captures COVID-19’s impact on state cyber posture to the extent visible during the early response to the pandemic.
2020 is a year that has undoubtedly been defined by the COVID-19 pandemic. In this eleventh annual state chief information officer (CIO) survey, we received the perspective of 47 state and territory CIOs on the extraordinary and unprecedented challenges they faced this year. In addition to directly addressing the issues and lessons learned by CIOs in responding to the pandemic, we also received updates from CIOs on many of the traditional topics covered by the survey, including CIO organization business models, digital government, adoption of cloud and emerging technologies and state and local collaboration. As might be expected, there was not a single topic area where the pandemic did not impact state CIO experiences in some way. The continuing work to address the immediate challenges of COVID-19 and to prepare for the long-term impacts to state and citizen work and personal lives is reflected throughout this year’s survey.
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit the United States in March 2020, states experienced unprecedented surges in online inquiries and transactions. Many digital services and call centers supporting government services were overwhelmed. Citizens were frustrated and the states needed to respond quickly with new approaches. Automation, in the form of chatbots, was quickly developed and deployed to supplement existing human resources. NASCIO research estimates that today around three-quarters of states are deploying chatbots to assist with questions on unemployment insurance, general COVID-19 questions or for other state agencies that may be receiving unusually high traffic due to the pandemic. These chatbots have responded to millions of citizen questions and continue to learn and build on the existing knowledge base. This publication includes state examples, predictions for the future and links to state chatbots.
This paper is the next in our NASCIO series “CIO as Broker.” We delve further into the dynamics of the Four Forces that form the foundation for the Government Change Framework developed by Integris Applied.
These Four Forces greatly influence what the state CIO develops in the way of business and technologies strategies which are represented in the annual state CIO Top Ten priority strategies, policy issues and management processes. The Four Forces actually have a bidirectional nature in that the state CIO will also leverage these Four Forces in developing approaches for achieving positive citizen outcomes. The particular actions that any state CIO actually takes depend on the state CIO strategy being pursued and the specific dynamics of the Four Forces that exist within a particular state government.
We provide two examples or cast studies using two of the 2020 Top Ten priorities. These include priority #2 – digital government and priority #5 – customer relationship management.
Accompanying this report is a webcast of a discussion of these concepts with two state CIOs. Mike Leahy, CIO for the State of Maryland, and Todd Kimbriel, former CIO for the State of Texas.
Related Resource
This webcast presents a discussion of how our state CIO panelists have addressed the business and technology challenges during COVID-19. The discussion includes strategies that recognize and leverage the Four Forces of Government Change Management. Join us to hear valuable insights presented by these state policy leaders as state government continues to address the current COVID-19 epidemic and plans to move forward to be prepared for post-COVID-19. Hosted by Eric Sweden, Program Director, Enterprise Architecture & Governance, NASCIO and facilitated by Patrick Moore, Managing Director, Integris Applied, Inc.
Today we are facing a COVID-19 (coronavirus) global pandemic. The situation is dynamic and moving fast.
State CIOs have an obligation to ensure that IT services continue during this pandemic outbreak and planning for such a scenario has become essential. As such is it imperative that state CIOs have a seat at the table with government leaders and take an active role in the state response to COVID-19. There are simple steps that state CIOs can follow during the next days and weeks.
This report presents the results of a joint Accenture/NASCIO research project exploring the future role of the state CIO and how the state CIO will drive innovation.
The research included interviews and a survey of state CIOs to understand the role of state CIOs in promoting innovation in government.
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The National Governors Association (NGA) and the National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) released Stronger Together: State and Local Cybersecurity Collaboration. With a dramatic uptick in ransomware attacks across the country, governors, state CIOs and state government executives are designing and implementing programs to strengthen local partnerships in cybersecurity. The publication outlines promising programs that states have initiated to enhance collaboration with their local government counterparts for cyber resilience. It also provides high-level recommendations for state officials looking to strengthen partnerships with local government officials on cybersecurity.
